Addressing the 16th World Russian People’s Council, which opened in
Moscow on Monday, Patriarch Kirill, head of the Russian Orthodox Church,
called for victory in the information war being waged by the West
against Russia.

There are moments in history where there is no visible frontline, but
still you cannot retreat because otherwise you will lose your country,
he said, adding, “This is exactly the moment we are experiencing today.
Physical battles have been replaced by information wars. A battle for
minds is in progress, in which we must not retreat.”

The Patriarch reminded his audience that Russia and the Western world
had emerged from one and the same church. However, after the separation
of the churches, the West has persisted in its aggression against both
“our land and our souls. … We are witnessing attempts to rewrite
Russia’s history. Russian history needs to be defended.”

Patriarch Kirill concluded his address by making an appeal: “While
celebrating the 400th anniversary of the end of the Time of Troubles, we
need to draw a line under the turmoil that followed the disintegration
of the Soviet Union.”

Presidential Chief of Staff Sergei Ivanov delivered a message of
greetings from the president and praised the unique experience of
cooperation between the Russian Orthodox Church and the state. He also
promised that “the state will continue to employ the full force of the
law in order to protect the religious feelings of the Russian people
against any attempts at sacrilege or blasphemy. After all, it is the
erosion of the spiritual foundations that has been the source of all the
tragedies experienced by our country.”

Federation Council Speaker Valentina Matviyenko said that the Orthodox
Church was responsible for shaping Russia’s national character, which
combined a love of freedom with the ability to get along with other
peoples. She urged the “soft power” of the Russian people to be made use
of in order to strengthen the country’s unity.

Minister of Culture Vladimir Medinsky lashed out at the intelligentsia:
“It is important to urge the intellectual elite to stop digging into our
common past with a view to seeking out wormholes and mistakes. Enough
self-exposure! Ours is a history full of great military and labor
exploits. If we cherish it, it will teach us where to go and what our
national cause is.”

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